silent rain
by windferret
Summary: no body appreciated her,but with her new mew powers,kartami can MAKE them appreciate her.torn between the good and bad, kartami struggles to find her place among her new freinds--and enemies.but could she be falling in love at the same time? read plz! :D
1. death, aliens, and a new mew

She was never the popular one… always picked on as a kid, and never loved by anyone.

But when she met them, she finally felt like she belonged. Like she had a place in the world…

"Have a nice Christmas kids1" the principal called as the hundreds of teens flooded out of the school building. Among those hundreds was but one kartami megumi. She was the last of them to stroll out of the building, along with her best friend izumi.

"Can you believe it's going to be Christmas in two days? I'm so super excited!" izumi shouted with glee. She was beautiful. with blonde hair that looked almost white, and to die for curves, kartami looked like a frump compared to her. Kartami was short with freckles, glasses, and short black hair. Though complete opposites on t he looks scale, they were like Siamese twins on the friends scale.

"geez izumi, you must be getting something awesome this year."

"Not really, im just excited about the snow, and the pretty dresses, and the mistletoes!"

"Yeah, you and Keith will be kissing all night."

"Probably! I'm just so happy we found each other! I love him so much… I hope we get married!"

They walked with the rest of the crowd as they dispersed into the direction of their homes, guided by the entire administration so there wouldn't be any squabbling between year long rivals.

"Oh shoot, stay here kartami. I left your present in my locker."

"You got me a present? Thanks a lot izu!"

kartami hugged her friend before she took off into the school. Kartami took a seat on the trimmed grass and sighed. She really loved that girl… she bowed her head in thanks for such a great friend.

Just as she was about to go look for her, kartami got a glimpse of a man in all black clothing through the schools all glass doors and her best friend pinned on the lockers with a small ribboned box in her hands. The man In black snatched it and threw it out an open window and slammed izumi into the ground. She crawled towards the door only to be pressed into it by the mans boot. She lifted her head and met kartamis horrified stare with an equally disturbed face. The violent man stuck a small black box in izumis face and slammed his thumb on a bright red button. An explosion engulfed the entire building In flame and blew out all of the windows. It rocked the ground and a wave of heat hit kartami like a freight train.

"IZUMI!"

**2 days later….**

The rain fell softly and fog blanketed the sky. Kartami sat quietly on a wet bench clutching the silver necklace in the ribboned box the bomb squad salvaged after the explosion. It had an African serval cat charm dangling from it. It was kartami and izumi's favorite animal. Her sudden death left kartami almost completely alone. Her parents passed away three years ago in a car accident, and her grandmother could barely do anything but use her arms.

"izumi… im so sorry.. merry Christmas…" she said solemnly, getting up from the bench and stalking off into the mist. A bright pink café illuminated the grey sky with festive lights and music. She scurried over quickly, wanting to celebrate for the lost times of her and her deceased friend.

"Welcome to café mew mew! May I take your order?" a girl in pink with her nametag reading ichigo asked.

"An eggnog please." Kartami said, smiling softly at the girl.

"okay, one moment please! In the meantime, enjoy the festivities and free karaoke!" she said before whisking off into the crowd of people.

...........0.0.0.

"Starting a new mew project I see?

"yes, and this time they wont know she was even chosen. Until the time is right. '

...........0.0

Kartami sipped on her eggnog gingerly and nibbled on a Christmas tree cookie while watching the happily drunk couples sing and dance around the room. Every so often, a couple would stop under a mistletoe and kiss sweetly, which made pictures of izumi and Keith flash across her mind.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a pink puffball chirping "alien! Alien!"

A girl In a green dress rushed over to a fire alarm and pulled the lever making the showers come to life and all the couples flee the building. Kartami cowered under a table and sank out of sight.

A blue eyed boy burst through the kitchen doors and made sure everyone was gone.

"Mew mews, do your job!"

"Mew mint!"

"Mew pudding!"

"Mew lettuce!"

"Mew zakuro!"

"Mew ichigo!"

"METAMORPHO-SIS!"

the five girls transformed in colorful light and turned out to be the infamous Tokyo mew mew. Kartami started in awe as they finished transforming. All of a sudden the air rippled a few feet above and away and above the group.

"Kisshu! How dare you ruin our fun!" ichigo yelled.

"Ribbon strawberry check!"

The green haired golden eyed alien dodged the attack hastily and disappeared next to ichigo. Coincidentally, they stood under mistletoe and it fell on the boys head.

"What's this for?" he asked, pulling on the leaves of the plant.

"it's a mistletoe! You have to kiss now!" pudding called.

"argh! Pudding be qui—"

her sentence was cut off by kisshu's busy mouth on hers. He kissed her so passionately all kartami could do was blush.

"ahem!" a red headed little boy called from above the heads of the mew and alien.

Ichigo pried kisshu's face off of hers and stumbled back.

"You pervert! Ribbon strawberry check!"

kisshu was blown backwards into the red head and past a lilac teen, who looked boredly past them.

"ugh, theres no point in this anymore. Im going home." He said, as he disappeared with an eye roll.

"Whatever. Seeya losers!" the red head shouted blowing a raspberry at the team.

Kish was still sitting on the floor. He looked curiously at all the lights and color patterns.

"And, what's all this stuff about?" he asked innocently.

"None of your business! Now get out of here! And don't ever think about kissing me again you freaky stalker pervert!" ichigo shrieked Angrily.

He looked like his feelings were hurt and he teleported away with a sad look on his face.

Kartami quickly crawled out of the back door to the café , excited at her recent discovery.

............

a few hours later, it was finally dark outside. Kartami made delicious dinner for her and her grandmother, set up a brilliant Christmas tree, and dressed her and her grandmother in matching red dresses. their Christmas their Christmas tree emitted the smell of pine amd glowed with happiness. She smiled at her work, but frowned when she thought of how excited izumi would have been for her.

"merry Christmas grandma! I love you!" kartami said, kissing her grandmas cheek. Her grandma smiled weakly and gazed at the tree lights.

" im going for a walk okay sweetie? I'll be back in about thirty minutes." Kartami declared, before giving her grandma a hug and pulling on her black sweater over her spaghetti strapped dress.

The streets glowed with activity and there luckily were plenty of open shops. She went into one, and came out with a heart shaped locket and a music box. She sat on a snowy , lighted bench next to an equally decorated oak tree. There she noticed a familiar face with his knees tucked into his chest and his arms clutching his legs.

She didn't know if it was safe to approach him, but she wasn't going to let him freeze in the snow, even if he wanted to.

"Uhm, do you need any company?" kartami asked shakily, unsure of her safety.

The boy jerked his head up and kartami noticed tears running down his pale cheeks.

"Nah, no thanks." He said coldly.

"Well, merry Christmas."

"Huh?"

"Merry Christmas?"

"…uh…"

"You don't know about…?"

"No…"

Then kartami remembered his confusion at the café. Then she remembered how mean ichigo had been to him.

"why are you crying?" she asked, pulling her arm out of her sweater and placing the empty side on kisshu. He looked at her suspiciously and shrugged out of the jacket.

"I gotta go." He said, wiping his tears away, embarrassed for being sensitive in public.

"Wait! Present!" kartami said, fishing the locket out of her pocket.

"Present? For what?"

"its Christmas." She said, putting the locket in his hand and closing his fist around it. She gave him a hug and Kish stood frozen in the same position when she gave the locket to him.

" uh, thanks."

Kartami pulled off her jacket and shoved it at kish, who was just about to run the other direction.

" you look awfully cold—no, keep it I have another one at home." She said when kish tried to shove it back.

"….uh…" was all he said. Not wanting to hurt the weird human girls feelings, he slipped the jacket on. It fit him quite well actually. And it kept his exposed stomach from freezing.

" hey wait a second! I've seen you! You were at the café!"

"darn, ya caught me!" kartami giggled. "That's why I came over. You seemed a little sad is all. Im not a mew though."

"Yeah, I know your not a mew. You didn't do anything except sit under the table staring at everyone." Kish said , rolling his eyes.

"yup, im just some weird frumpy girl with nothing unique about me. I survive."

" I think your really cute, not frumpy. The freckles are cute too." He said half laughing half in shock that a girl like her would be insecure.

" thanks! You're the first person to call me cute, other than… my friend izumi. She was killed in an explosion two days ago."

Kisshu's face fell and he looked sad all over again.

" its not your fault. A lot of things remind me of her. Like, Christmas is her favorite time of year, we both like African servals , and when I saw you and ichigo kissing , it reminded me of her and her boyfriend keith. They were really in love…"

"yeah, well ichigo hates me. Shes in love with some other chump named aoyama masaya.

I can never be with her.." he said, his voice cracking on the last words.

Kartami realized that Kish had his heart broken a lot of times, by the same ichigo.

"and that's why I hate those stupid mews! They don't understand and their always getting in the way of my plans of killing that worm and being with my kitten!" he shouted angrily, with angry tears threatening to expose his sensitivity again.

" im so sorry…" was all she got to say before she dragged him into her arms and hugged him tightly. She hugged him so hard he accidentally let a sob out. Hesitantly, he hugged her back, confused and wanting to get his hands close enough to his hair so he could yank it for _sobbing_ in front of a human he barely knew.

" lets hope the next time I see you its hugs and kisses instead of kicking and hitting each other between you and the mews." Kartami said into his shoulder.

"pssh, your funny too." Kish sneered. Suddenly kartami felt his hands creeping down her back and extremely close to her bottom.

" gwaaah!" she screeched as she yanked away from him and smacked him in the head. He was smiling again, and she was happy for that, even if it was for the wrong reasons. She smacked him again so he wouldn't be encouraged to do it again.

"pervert!"

"heh, its nice to have a new toy. Later freckles." He said, giving her kiss on the cheek before disappearing with a laugh.

Kartami walked home, glad to have made a new friend to seal the hole where izumi had once been.

............

kartami returned home and spotted her grandmother still staring fondly at the multicolored lights.

"Tadaima!" kartami called as she handed her grandmother the music box.

They enjoyed the rest of the evening together, not knowing what was in store for them the next day.

"welcome to café mew mew—you were here yesterday!" mint exclaimed.

"yeah, I really like the treats here. Do you have any tea by chance?" kartami asked quietly.

Mint's eyes lit up and she ran into the kitchen happy to be serving someone with a taste for something other than cake.

......………...0…...0………..0.0.0.

"mint? Who are you giving this order to?" ryou asked seriously.

" just some girl with freckles and glasses."

"Ryou walked over and took the tea cup from mint and sprinkled in a pink dust.

"what are you trying to do?! Kill her?!" mint screamed.

"something like that " he said sarcastically.

...........0.0.0.

Meanwhile, pai typed hurriedly on his laptop, tart tossed a bouncy ball around, and kish sat quietly in the corner lost in thought.

"what's the rush pai?" tart asked, not taking his eyes off of his game.

"I just got readings of a DNA match up. The mews may be trying to recruit another girl."

kish looked up with a playful expression on his face.

"good, I was getting bored playing with the same people."

"this isn't a game kisshu—"

"Yeah yeah it's a mission blah blah, whatever I get it pai." He sassed as he got ready to teleport.

"And where do you think your going?"

"Probably to see that old hag—I mean, mew ichigo…" tart stammered as kish gave him a cutting glare.

"I'm going to find out who my newest toy is." Kish said as he disappeared with a devious grin.

..0……...0……..0.0.0…….0.0…...

"Here's your tea. Enjoy." Zakuro said harshly, practically dropping the tea on the table.

" uh, thanks…a lot..?" kartami said shakily, taking a nervous sip. It tasted weird, but the weirdness made it irresistible. she drank it faster and faster, ignoring the burning in her mouth. She set the empty cup on the table and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt.

When she looked up she noticed she was the only person left in the café.

She quickly got up and scurried to the front door but skidded to a stop when she noticed that lettuce had plastered her body to the door.

" why don't you stay for a little while? She asked quietly.

"well, okay then.." kartami said with a smirk.

She took a seat next to lettuce and looked around the café.

" its really cute in here… who designed it?"

" I did." Ryou said, sitting across from lettuce and kartami.

" oh wow, you're a guy? Well, I love coming here." Kartami said politely, gazing into his eyes.

"you'll be coming a lot more often…" he said darkly as he snapped his fingers. Kartami felt a stabbing pain in her stomach and she fell over in pain.

"Aah! What did you—argh!" she screamed as she fell over on the ground with a thud.

Kartami blacked out momentarily and shuddered on the floor with fear. In the blackness of unconsciousness, she thought she noticed a catlike figure prodding towards her.

It stuck its paw on her leg, a little higher than her knee. She felt a bubbly feeling and opened her eyes sluggishly.

"urgh…what the … what did you do?!" kartami yelled angrily at ryou.

"well, you just became a mew mew. You've ingested the genes of an African serval." He said flatly, as if he's explained this hundreds of times.

"what?!" was all kartami said before her hands flew up to her head and she stroked the kitty ears that protruded from her head. Just as she was about to launch herself at ryou, she was interrupted (again) by masha squealing "alien alien!!"

"Ready to test your new abilities?" ichigo asked, winking at flustered kartami.

"No! Not at all!" she thought.

Karatami slinked into the background and eventually crouched beneath a table, hiding her large ears.

Kish, pai, and tart teleported into the café, ready for a fight.

"Alright freaks! Hand over the mew aqua and we might just kill you quickly!" tart yelled.

"except you , my kitten…"kish said, as he winked at ichigo, who in turn winced.

Pai glared at kish and summoned up a parasite, who swallowed up a passing beetle and turned it into an acid spitting monster.

"Mew mews! Metamorpho-sis!" the girls called, as they transformed energetically.

The beetle turned its wrath towards pudding and hissed at the small girl.

"yuck! It's a nasty bug! Ribbon, pudding ring inferno!" she chanted, as a bright yellow pudding trapped the monster inside.

"ribbon, strawberry surprise!" Ichigo called, as the monster disintegrated with a howl.

"What?! we lost already?!" tart whined.

Pai looked like his old self, bored and fed up with this whole Tokyo mew mew thing.

Kish just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Whatever, I'm leaving." pai declared, and teleported out of the room.

"Bleeeh!" tart sassed as he stuck his tongue out at the group and teleported away.

"bye bye koneko Chan.." kish purred as he leaned in to ichigo and kissed her on the cheek.

"Kish!" she yelled as she swiped at him. He hopped out of the way and teleported away with a chuckle.

"Alright Na no da! Pudding cheeped as she punched a fist into the air.

"That wasn't much of a challenge…"mint sighed, sipping on a hot cup of fresh tea.

"sometimes I think they're getting more pathetic every time…" ryou said, nodding his head at mints statement.

"well, we kicked their butts anyways! Except for SOMEBODY." ichigo said, turning kartami's direction.

"what was I supposed to do?!" she hissed as she whirled around to face ichigo.

"who do you think your yelling at?! I'm the leader you know!"

"well your criticizing me because you turned me into some hybrid human, and you expect me to know how to fight?!"

"excuse ME! No one told you that you had to fight!"

"listen to what your saying! It makes no sense at all you—"

"ok ladies, settle down and why don't you have a little tea?" keichierou bargained.

" I don't want any tea! I wanna be human again!" kartami shouted as she turned and dashed towards the door.

"Kartami wait!" Lettuce called.

Kartami ignored her name for the first time in her life and walked straight through the door.

Her oversized serval ears disappeared and she plopped down on a park bench.

"so I take it you don't like it huh?" a familiar voice said.

"kish? How did you find me? And no. I don't like it."

"first of all, you and koneko Chan were arguing so loud you could hear it into the next dimension, second, it's nice to know you're the new mew instead of some girl I don't know."

"Yeah, well, just because you're my friend doesn't mean in giving you any leads on whatever you guys are fighting about."

"It's not like you know anything about it anyway." Kish said sarcastically. "And you're my friend, but you're also my new enemy."

"Yeah, that's right! If you want a fight lets go then!"

"Heh, you sure are a lot braver now than you were when you were in the café. Maybe koneko Chan was right. Maybe ryou did make a mistake."

"She said that?!"

"Oops! I wasn't supposed to tell…" Kish said deviously.

"I thought you were my friend Kish. Friends tell each other when someone says something bad about them." Kartami said quietly, leaning closer to Kish with a look of false innocence in her eyes. Kish moved uncomfortably away from her gaze and turned away from her.

"That's for you to figure out on your own freckles." He said, as he kissed her on the cheek and teleported away.

...........0.0.0.

Kartami walked into her festively lit house and threw her jacket on the couch. Her grandmother was fiddling with a Christmas ornament and shining it on her orange Christmas tree sweater.

"Hi grandma. Ready for dinner?" kartami asked, rubbing her grandmothers wrinkled forehead. Even when she was sick it never felt hot to the touch. Always cool. Kartami always thought maybe it was because of old age, but she didn't know for sure.

She wheeled her grandma into the kitchen and stopped her in front of a counter.

"today we'll be making your favorite…apple pie! We're having deserts for dinner tonight just because I feel happy. For you." She added, because she definitely wasn't happy.

They baked diligently, grandma cutting apples (while kartami carefully watched), kartami cooking and stewing and baking. They set the finished delicacy on the granite kitchen counter to cool and kartami stared fondly at it. She and her grandma had made it. She used to do things like this with izumi.

Izumi. She hadn't thought about her friend for a long time. Ever since the whole "mew"tation, (corny, I know!) Kartami didn't even have time to think of her own grades in school. Not like anyone cared. The kids and teachers at her new school were strict and hostile. She didn't have any school friends to talk to, and she sat alone at lunch, as if she had some kind of deadly disease. At her old school, before it and her bff izumi were blown up by some freaky terrorist, everyone wasn't always nice, but they didn't shoot you hot glares because you sat near them.

Kartami picked up a large knife and pressed it into the flaky crust of the pie, her mouth beginning to water as a result of the hot steam caressing her nose and tickling her nostrils with the sweet scent of apples and butter. Her grandma's eyes got all sparkly and what not and she began to feebly lick her lips.

Kartami served her grandmother and took her to her bedroom for a nap after she was finished. Kartami cut a small chunk out of the pie and got a scoop of ice cream. She sat at the doily decorated yellow dining table and just as she was about to taste, a crash resonated from the hallway in the living room. She was so surprised that she accidentally knocked her whole bowl on the floor and it shattered into pieces, pie splattering all over the bottom of the counters. She cursed quietly at the broken bowl and pulled out the golden egg shaped pendent that enabled her to transform into mew kartami.

Using catlike stealth, she peeked around the kitchen corner to see who she was about to open up a can of beat down on. When she noticed the intruder, her heart started beating so hard she though it would fly out of her chest and break through the wall.

"Argh, stupid vase…" CRASH! "Crap! Stupid other vase!" he hissed as he clumsily broke another vase he was looking inside. "Where the hell is it?!"

"Mew kartami…metamorphosis…" kartami whispered as she kissed her golden egg. A bright powder purple light engulfed kartami's body. A feeling of cool rain hitting and slipping down her skin consumed her, the smell after a storm, and the sound of pounding precipitation. After the light dimmed, kartami looked herself over. She was in a pleated purple skirt with a dark violet belt snug around her waist, and a purple zip up tube top, and instead of elastic strips holding them to her body, there were thin belts. Her boots were about ankle high, and she had purple fishnets that stopped at her shin. Just above the nets, was a mark that looked like a puddle shaped as a cat.

"OhmygoodGAWD!" she hollered as she tugged on her serval ears and fiddled with her skinny tail. Then she smacked her hands over her mouth. There was still an intruder after all. "ah forget it. He heard me." She thought.

"What are you doing here!" kartami shouted at him.

Tart whirled around and let go of a glass bowl he was looking in and it went flying across the room. it shattered epically, spraying glass shards all over the place.

"you almost took off my head you…boy!" kartami said.

"whatever stupid girl! Hand over the mew aqua and I can end this quickly!"

"Mew…what what?"

"AH-KWAH. MOO AH-KWAH." He said, over pronouncing the words.

"what in the worlds is that? Wait—is that what you guys are fighting about? Some dumb water?"

"it's not just dumb water dumb girl! Now move out of the way so I can find it!" he said as he swiftly drifted past kartami.

"oh no you don't ! You're not welcome in my house!" she yelled as she gripped his ankle and pulled downwards.

"Oof!" he cried as he hit the ground face first. A shiny crystal slid across the floor and stopped near her grandmothers door. It began to shine brilliantly and tart snapped his head up to see the gleaming jewel . "awesome!" he yelled as he snatched his leg away from kartami with a glare and picked up the jewel. "the reactor went off!"

he picked up the crystal excitedly and twisted the doorknob to kartami's grandmother's room. He was instantly yanked backwards by the pigtails protruding from his head and put into a headlock by kartami, who had at least a good foot and a half on the short boy.

"how do you keep yanking me me around like that?!" he shouted, as he struggled to get her arm from around his neck.

" your like ,what, 4''8? And 60 pounds?"

" I'm 65 pounds!" he screamed, kicking his legs in the air. "Why am I even still here? I can teleport into the room!" he said devilishly as the air began to ripple and he disappeared.


	2. Realization, a date, and new freinds

Kartami searched around in alarm ,not knowing how, or where tart had teleported.

Suddenly the sound of something –or someone-resonated from the bedroom. A low, feeble moan echoed into the hallway.

"grandma!" kartami shouted as she yanked the bedroom door off of its hinges and looked frantically around the empty room.

"out here fuzz for brains!" tart called irately. He looked like he was straining to hold her grandmother up and his face was a light tinge of pink.

"give her back right now or else!" kartami threatened. Actually, she didn't know what she was going to do. Up until now, she never had to fight.

"nope! Im going back to the ship to drill the mew aqua out of her head!" he said as he shifted his weight to hold up the old woman.

"mew aqua… in her head?" kartami said incredulously. It all made sense now. The reason her grandmother lived as long as she did. The reason if she had a fever kartami never knew it because her forhead was always cool. Kartami's heart sank. Her sweet grandmother was apart of this now.

"I can't let you take her!" kartami yelled at tart.

"too late for that don't ya think? Later loser!" tart yelled back as he lifted off the ground, ready to teleport.

"ribbon kartami rain!" kartami cried as the water from a flower vase tart clumsily knocked over whizzed towards him at 40 miles an hour.

" wah!" he yelped as he dropped her grandma and disappeared. The water pelted her grandmother's wrinkled skin and she let out a cry of pain.

"oh no!" kartami yelled as she broke her concentration and the water sank to the floor.

She rushed over to her dazed and confused grandmother, who was alright other than a few scratches and welts. Kartami sighed and plopped her on the couch. She was fine, thankfully. In a bright light kartami retransformed into her regular form. She glared at the puddle shaped cat mark that signified her as a mew. She never asked to be an alien fighting super hero. Things just happened to her without her permission, like izumi being blown away by a psycho freak. She sighed angrily and stomped up the stairs into her bedroom to sleep.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The next day…

Kartami struggled to pack her bag before the school bell rang. This happened all the time. She would get lost in thought and barely even notice what was going on around her. Her new friend Akira helped her stuff things into her bag. He was sweet, but he was a total pervert, always chasing after a cute girl and asking them out. He reminded her of kish in a way, but akira wasn't trying to kill her.

"hey, who's this?" he asked, pulling out a picture of izumi and kartami at a party. It was one of those parties where you wore white clothes and people splattered paint all over you in tons of different ways. Izumi was dipping her finger in a giant vat of paint and smirking, and kartami had her fingers in the shape of a gun and was pointing at the camera.

"you guys look like Charlie's angels." Akira said with a laugh. "so, who's your friend?"

"Thanks that's what we were going for and her name was- is izumi." Kartami said.

"so can you hook me up with her number or what?"

"no. she wouldn't pick up anyways."

" come on please? She's so pretty… I can't wait to meet her." He said, flipping open his phone.

" akira, no. you cant call her." Kartami said, trying to hide the truth.

" that's really mean kartami. I thought you were my friend—"

" she's dead akira, she's dead. she died two years ago in the school explosion. The school I had to transfer from because it blew up." Kartami said sharply.

Akira looked pale and put the picture back in her bookbag. He wasn't going to pry.

" sorry kartami. I didn't mean to bring up something so painful."

" it's okay. You didn't know." Kartami said, smiling warmly at him. The bell rang and kartami zipped up her bag as she stood up.

" hey, are you busy this weekend?" akira asked, looking down at the floor as he asked. Kartami giggled.

" I didn't expect you to be so bashful. I don't think I am, why?" kartami asked, knowing he was obviously asking her out.

"well, I know this cute café over by my house that we could visit if your not occupied with something… or someone."

" oh. Well sure, we can go together. It'll be fun!" she said, smiling at him and making him blush. They were walking side by side together down the sidewalk when kartami noticed she was walking the wrong way.

" my house is the other way, I gotta go." She said, blushing at her lack of attention.

" oh, okay bye then." Akira said , hugging her. Kartami blushed, and pat him on the back.

" bye friend." She said, putting emphasis on friend as she pulled away and smirked at him.

Just then she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"kartami! Hey who's your cutie?" Ichigo called, winking at her. She had her boyfriend masaya with her. He had navy hair and an odd tan.

Akira smirked at the ground, feeling good to be called cute.

"This is my friend akira. I was just walking with him, but I'm going home now." She said quickly trying to prevent any misconception. It was too late though. Ichigo was smiling broadly at the both of them and grabbed kartami's wrist, pulling her away from the boys and facing her .

" how about we go on a double date , hm?"

" Ichigo he's not my boyfriend!" kartami said, trying to convince her with no luck.

" how about the zoo?" she asked, blowing kartami off.

" don't we have work at the café?"

" aw who cares? Ryou will get over it so lets go! Come on boys!" ichigo called, dragging kartami with her in the direction of the park. Akira looked confused and glanced at masaya.

" what's with your girl dude?"

" she likes to jump the gun… sorry." He said with a sympathetic smile.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

meanwhile…

" you had the mew aqua in your hands and you _dropped_ it? Pai hissed at tart, who cowered in a corner.

" it wasn't physical mew aqua it was in a heavy old lady…" he said quietly.

" I DON'T CARE IF SHE WAS FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS! BUCK UP AND CARRY HER!" pai hollered.

" pai, shut your face!" kish yelled, chucking a pillow at the seething teen. Pai looked angry enough to chuck his laptop right back at him. " if your so disappointed in us, I wanna see YOU bring back the old lady." Kish finished. Tart crawled away to safety and locked his bedroom door.

" fine! I will!" pai said, sticking his tongue out at Kish like a five year old. Kish rolled his eyes and went back into his bedroom as pai began doing research on his laptop.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"your going to love this place!" ichigo said excitedly. "They have an aquarium full of fish! Did I mention fish? The fish are huge! Fish fish fish!" ichigo babbled, as masaya threw his sweater over the top of her head, almost certain her ears would pop put any second. Kartami laughed at her out burst. All of a sudden ichigo stopped and froze in her tracks. Everyone looked at her with a concerned face. She stared up at the clock tower they happened to pass.

" ichigo it's just a clock tower. Your looking at it like your waiting for something." Akira said.

" this is the place where I first met…" she trailed off. Kartami instantly understood. This was the place where she first met kishu. Ichigo's ears popped out and she looked at the ground, blushing. Good thing the sweater was on her head. Masaya looked awkward and started to walk ahead of the group with akira.

" who's kishu?" akira asked, clueless of the whole ordeal that came with mentioning his name.

" just a guy who used to like her. Come on, they'll catch up." He said, looking back at ichigo, who was still in the same position.

" ichigo?" kartami asked, walking towards her.

" this is where we first met…" she said, looking up and stomping her foot. " and this is where he stole my first kiss too!" she said with a huff. Her tail popped out and she squeaked as she stuffed it into her jeans. Kartami laughed .

" it must have been a good kiss if your getting so flustered." She said , making ichigo laugh too. This was a huge improvement since they first met. When they first met they were at each others throat in a cat fight.

" come on, lets get to that zoo." Kartami said, pulling ichigo along.

They caught up with the boys and finally arrived at their destination. The first place they went was of course the aquarium and kartami and ichigo freaked out with all the fish, ichigo almost dove into the water she got so excited. The boys chatted about how girls always overreact in weird situations, when all of a sudden a jelly fish like thing drifted past them. Ichigo and kartami gasped.

"Ichigo it's a parasite!" kartami whispered.

" yeah but how do we get your boyfriend out of here?"

kartami contemplated that for a moment. She then thought about how the boys were talking about how girls over react in weird situations.

" ahh oh my gawsh I broke a nail!" she screamed. "Akira can you go get me a tissue please?" she pleaded . he rushed off towards the bathrooms, a man on a mission. Kartami scoffed. " I would never do that."

Masaya went with him, trying to buy the girls some time.

Ichigo and kartami rushed in the direction the parasite went. Just then, the parasite gobbled up a lion cub and ichigo froze when she saw who sent it.

"Hi koneko Chan! Hey freckles!" Kish called.

"déjà vu!" ichigo screamed.

Kish laughed at her and sent the chimera anima charging towards them.

" mew strawberry! Metamorpho—"

"not so fast kitty!" kish said as he kicked the pendant out of her hands and snatched it out of the air. "You won't be getting too far without this." He sneered.

" she won't but I still can! Mew kartami! Metamorphosis!" kartami said, transforming in a purple glow. Kish looked at her scathingly.

" now, you make that monster go away!" she yelled at him hopelessly. She didn't know how to be a leader! Kish held back cynical laughter as the chimera growled at them threateningly.

"Yeah, ok. Chimera, go away." He said sarcastically. Kartami stomped her foot.

"stop being so rude and just go! Don't you have something better to do than harass us while were on our dates?" ichigo yelled angrily at him.

Kish smirked again and disappeared, leaving the girls to deal with the chimera.

"well? Do something!" ichigo pressured.

"r-ribon kartami rain!" she called out shakily. The water from the drinking dishes of the cages burst out and turned into multiple droplets, pelting the anima and ultimately, defeating it.

"yeah! You go girl!" ichigo cheered, hugging kartami tightly. As they began to run into the direction of the confused little lion cub, the heard a familiar scream that made their blood run cold.

"Akira!" kartami screamed as she sprinted in the direction of the scream, completely leaving ichigo behind. Kishu had an orange crystal in his hands and Akira was on the floor, blue and unconscious. With a chuckle, Kish fused the crystal with another parasite and a giant centipede erupted from the tiny jellyfish like monstrosity. It turned its wrath on masaya, who could do nothing due to the fact that in the great battle of deep blue, he had no mew aqua left in him, and besides, ichigo wasn't in danger so he wouldn't turn into the blue knight in the first place. He screamed in terror as he got up and ran. The centipede followed and kishu laughed as he watched it chase him around.

"AKIRA!" kartami screeched again, and kishu looked down at her. She didn't yell it at the blue body on the ground, but at kishu. He teleported to her level and nuzzled his face into hers. She hissed angrily at him, and her tail puffed up in fury.

"I didn't think you could be so aggressive freckles. And besides, what does it matter that I stole your date's soul? You should be thankful, he's a total loser."

"He's not a total loser, and he's not my date and why'd you kill him?"

" he's not dead…I think. If he is then I've killed a lot of people."

Kartami glared angrily at him.

" I thought you were my friend!"

" That was your first mistake." He said, poking her exposed belly with his finger. Kartami laughed but straightened up when she realized she should be mad at him. She hopped backwards and readied herself to attack the centipede, when she noticed ichigo sneaking up behind kish.

"gimmee back my power pendant you freak!" she yelled as she lunged at him. He spun around and kartami stepped on the ribbons trailing from the elastic on his shorts, preventing him from moving unless he wanted his shorts on his ankles. He glared at kartami and ichigo took that second to snatch the power pendant from his pocket.

"hey no fair!" he yelled.

" mew strawberry! Metamorphosis!"

ichigo transformed amd took care of the chimera in no time. She seemed to move a lot faster when her boyfriends life was in danger. Kish grimaced and disappeared into thin air. Kartami cried over by akira's side until ichigo brought the little jewel back to him. He regained color, and so did kartami.

"oh my god akira I thought I was going to lose you!" she cried, gathering him into her arms.

He looked at her confusedly.

"uh, thanks for saving me, but do you know where my date is?"

" what are you talking about? I am your—" she stopped once she realized she was still in her mew form. She had to find something to say, or else he'd find out she was a mew mew.

"uhm, that's what your date WOULD say if she was here right now."

"well where is she? And… have I met you somewhere? You look really familiar."

"nope nuh uh never no where." She rushed. He looked at her strangely again.

" uhr your girlfriend ran into the bathroom she said she'll be right back." Kartami said uncertainly. How was she going to get the time to retransform before he got to the bathroom and found no one there? She certainly wasn't going to tell him she was a mew mew.

" uh, okay thanks." He stuttered, and dashed off to the restrooms.

Kartami hid behind the elephants exhibit and retransformed in dazzling purple rays. Her daily life was even being interrupted! She couldn't stand being a mew mew.

" hey kartami!" ichigo called, back in her normal state. She looked angry, and she glared at kartami. She had masayas hand in hers, and masaya looked rather regretfully at her.

" yes ichigo—"

" don't yes Ichigo me! How come when we were fighting the centipede you didn't help masaya? I thought we were friends! "

" ichigo what are you talking about? We are friends! And I couldn't help him because—"

" you were too absorbed in kish to even care! All you did was scream and yell for his attention!"

kartami couldn't believe her ears. Was she really losing yet ANOTHER friend to something that was out of her control? Of course she was, because life hates her. She took a deep inhalation and turned around.

" hey! Don't you walk away from me when I'm speaking to you! I'm in charge here!" ichigo yelled at kartami as she stalked away.

" kartami?" akira said as he noticed her walking away. He looked hurt, and turned the other direction to go home.

...0.00o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o...0.0.

**Meanwhile…**

Kish laid on his bed, frustrated and tired. Why couldn't he beat the mews? He'd been wondering that for the past few months now. All that he knew, and all that he's been through, he still couldn't find a way to make them crack. And that kartami girl… what made her so unique that he couldn't act correctly around her? He smirked a little, remembering the first time they met. She was an odd one. No matter what he did, she always seemed to trust him. That's when it hit him.

"trust," he said aloud. "that's how I'll beat them…"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.….o..oo..o.o.o.o.o.o.

**The next day….**

Kartami poured a cup of tea blindly, almost spilling it on the customer she was serving it to. A couple of high school boys sauntered into the café, one of them winking at kartami, who in turn blushed. She hoped one of the other girls would get the table, but they were all waiting tables of their own.

" welcome to café mew mew may I take your order?"

the winking boy was actually quite handsome. His hair was tumble weed and his bangs were swept to the side, making him take on a kind of skater look, and His eyes were a stunning garnet. He was wearing all black, which most boys seem to do, and had a chain dangling from his belt loop with a studded belt.

" well first may I please say that you are very stunning in that dress?"

"uh-uh—thank you!" she stuttered, surprised by the compliment.

" I'd like what you usually get madam." He said, looking her dead in the face.

Kartami blushed harder and tried to concentrate on her job. Other than with Kish, being flirted at wasn't nearly as embarrassing as she thought it was. Now she looked like a red bell pepper and was stuttering like an old car in front of a boy she met 2 minutes ago. Despite his delinquent look, he was very polite.

" uh, ok, what about you guys?" she said, referring to the other two boys at the table.

" a lemonade please. Pink." Grunted one in a sort of high pitched voice. He sounded kind of girly in a way, but hey, not everyone's voice gets deeper at the same time. He had blond hair that was stuffed sloppily in a1940's paperboy style hat, the ones that were fat in the back to hold your hair. His eyes were bright pink, like when ichigo transforms kind of pink, and he had small facial features, like a pixie or something.

" a mint chocolate ice cream please!" said a younger looking boy, around twelve with jet black hair and translucent electric green eyes. He was the most wild looking, with his hair messy and loose and a cute smile on his face. Kartami stared at him for a little while before rushing off into the kitchen to prepare their orders.

While in there, she spotted ichigo carrying a coconut shake and about to head out the door.

" hey kartami," she said.

This was it. Kartami was sure she was going to apologize then and there, and they could go back to being friends again.

" quit flirting out there or I'm going to have to get ryou to demote you to dishwasher. Have some work ethic."

" YES MOTHER!" kartami shouted at her. " I'll definitely stop flirting, as soon as you start actually pulling your weight around and cut it out with the texting in the middle of taking orders."

" what?"

" you heard me! I'm sick of you talking to me like I'm a little girl!"

" WELL THEN GROW UP!"

kartami glared at her hotly. She didn't know what to say. She'd never been so angry in her life! All she really could do was continue throughout the day and try not to think about it.

" this conversation is done." She simply stated as she gathered her orders and stormed out the door.

The boys at the table looked at her concerned .

"uh, is it too much to ask for an explanation?" the boy with the charming attitude asked.

Kartami glanced over at him. She didn't want to be rude, but didn't he hear what just happened?

"How about after im done with work we can all hang out?" kartami suggested, half waiting for a rejection. The boy smiled widely, and so did the other two.

"Why, that would be great." He said, sipping at his drink while looking kartami in the eyes. She fidgeted under his gaze and looked down.

"Okay, meet me at the park." She said, shuffling away to the next table.

LATER THAT DAY…

Kartami dashed home as soon as her shift was over and looked for an outfit that might dazzle the boys. She had become more and more nervous with each passing second as her mind wandered into the subject of romance. They weren't particularly unattractive, but she met them at a café for Pete's sake. She finally decided to choose a casual tank top that had a rose vine that snaked around her torso, and a pair of Capri's that just covered her mew mark, and a pair of dark green flip flops to match the vines on her shirt.

" I better take them some gifts!" she thought, hoping that maybe a little bribery could jumpstart some new best friends. She grabbed a few cookies she baked for her grandmother, who was sleeping at the moment, and headed out.

Meanwhile…..

" You think she really fell for it?" a boys voice asked.

" of course she did. she really wasn't all that bright to begin with." Another boys voice said, but slightly older.

" yea, not very pretty either. I have no idea what that worm kisshu sees in her." A girls voice spat.

"stupid and unattractive or not, she's a mew. And the easiest one to get out of the picture, judging by how she stands up for herself." The older voice added.

" finally! We'll be the elite assassins on the map instead of kish pai and tart! Especially tart…'' the younger voice said, adding an acid tone to his last word.

Kartami rounded the corner to the park and saw the three boys lounging in the grass. Her heart stopped when the older boy with the wheat colored hair greeted her with a warm smile.

"Ah, so you didn't stand us up I see." He said, embracing her in a hug like they had known each other for years. His hair tickled her nose and she closed her eyes, breathing in his scent.

" hey! Cookies!" the younger boy piped as he snatched the bag, ruining the moment.

Kartami giggled as he tore open the bag with passion and basically inhaled his cookie.

"Ti- kun, can I have yours? They're yummy!" he pleaded.

" yeah, go for it." He replied, sighing and looking into kartami's eyes , who he was still holding closely.

" ti –kun?" kartami asked.

"Oh yes, that's right, we haven't even introduced ourselves. Terribly sorry."

" oh it's okay! My names kartami. Nice to meet you!"

" that little sugar demon is Éclair, the anti social blonde on the ground over there is truffles, and me,"

"well I'm gelati." He finished, gazing into kartami's eyes a bit dreamily. Kartami blushed deeply as she stared into his alluring ruby eyes.

"I- I'm kartami…" she repeated dumbly.

"yes, I know." Gelati said with a smile.

Truffles rolled over on his side with a huff and rolled his eyes.

" ugh, gag me." He spat in his unusually shrill for a boys voice kind of voice.

Gelati threw a pebble at him and grabbed kartami's hand. Kartami gasped as he slid his hand into hers.

" wanna go for a walk?" he asked.

"s-sure."

"okay then. Éclair, truffles, I'll be back in about ten min—"

" OOOHHH A PUPPY!" éclair shouted as he dashed off across the park, leaving truffles laying on the ground with a dumbstruck expression on his face.

Gelati chuckled a little and strolled off down the wooded trail with kartami.

The trail was beautiful. The sunlight filtered through the emerald trees and caterpillars inched their way across the side walk. Squirrels chattered at each other in a foreign language, and birds swooped over head, determined to get the best twigs for their nests.

" it's gorgeous…" gelati whispered, smiling.

" I know, it's always nice after winter. It seems like its brighter and more alive after winter." Kartami said, looking at the bunches of bushes with colorful berries on them.

" oh, did I say it? I meant you." Gelati said, squeezing kartami's hand and looking into her eyes.

Kartami blushed and looked down, flattered but also feeling swarms of butterflies in her stomach.

"thank you…" she managed to say, before she thought of something.

"the trail that leads to my house is really pretty too. Plus I have a garden in my backyard."

"oh, that sounds fun." He said, grinning at her.

"yeah, and we can pick some veggies and make something for éclair and truffles!" kartami suggested rather excitedly, which made gelati laugh a little.

" sure, I'll just call them and tell them we'll be a little late coming back. I'm sure they'll find something to do." He replied, letting her lead him to her house.

MEANWHILE

Kish played with a parasite and poked it with his finger , bored with nothing to do. He had planned on going to see kartami and gain her trust somehow, but now he just didn't feel like it. All he felt like doing was entertaining himself, and so far, the squishy flashing jellyfish parasite was doing the trick. He picked up a pen and poked it, which made it squirm a little bit.

" did that hurt?" he asked it, a smile creeping up on his face.

He poked it again and it started to drift away from him. He herded it down the hall way, pen in hand, and smacked straight into pai, who in turn dropped his laptop, which, in turn, broke. Kish looked at pai in surprise. Pai looked back in surprise, then rage.

"Uh-"kish began.

" 'uh' is all you have to say to justify yourself?" pai asked, his fists quivering.

" n-no –"

" go find something to do. Now."

Kish turned around and started to back away into his bedroom.

"outside of the ship if you will. Like maybe earth for instance." He suggested, which was more like a command than a suggestion.

Kish took the hint and began to teleport. Looks like he'll be bothering kartami after all.


End file.
